Pushing Fifty & Scalin' It Back
Right after you all welcomed me so warmly to this forum, I realized I didn't have anything urgent to say that was targeted to this particular demographic. So, for the past week or two, I've been posting over at the Northeast, Commuter, and Touring forums. Here's one, however, that I think fits the bill...
When I got back into bicycling in 1996, I was primarily mountain biking. My fellow MTBers convinced me to add toe clips to my pedals, which was a great idea for keeping my feet from slipping off as I mashed down to try to climb all those hills. Then, when I started using my mountain bike on the road, Bicycling Magazine convinced me to keep the clips on so that I could ride using a full rotary motion - pumping down with one foot while pulling up on the other.
Grant Petersen's recent book put the bug in my head that this whole concept might be hogwash, so I decided to take a shot at riding without my shredded 16-year-old toe clips. After all, they have always been such a nuisance when dismounting and re-mounting at stop lights.
Anyway, it turns out that I hardly notice a difference in my ride, except for the fact that it's so much easier to just hop on the saddle and take off now. No more scraping the bottom of my sneaker against the pedal to slip into the clip; no more worrying when the clip is dragging on the street because I rushed to start up after a red light; and no more unsightly black marks on the insides of my shoes. I feel free, and bicycling feels "fresh" again.
If anybody else has become a slave to toe clips, I can say that riding without them is really a pleasure and takes away yet another hassle of getting on the bike. The same day I pulled off the clips, I also removed the cable lock from my seat post. Who am I fooling? I'm not leaving my bike anywhere.
Now my ride is much leaner and lighter. I think I'm in love again...